


No, I Don't Know 'Part of Your World' Shut Up

by Chezmeralda



Category: Free!
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Little Mermaid AU, M/M, Storytelling, haruka as no. 1 makorin shipper 2k15, party at the tachibana house without makoto, rin is an embarrassment, romantic rinrin makes his appearance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-28
Updated: 2015-08-28
Packaged: 2018-04-17 15:53:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4672496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chezmeralda/pseuds/Chezmeralda
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Haru's got a plan. He just hopes that it works in the end.</p>
            </blockquote>





	No, I Don't Know 'Part of Your World' Shut Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **EDIT 2016/09/12:** fixed a small discrepancy near the end when Nagisa is talking with the twins

Haru presses the backing on the cover that he so meticulously embossed and bound himself, gold leaflets pressed into the letters of the title of the story that he’s been working on for nearly a month now. Honestly, if his little plan doesn’t work, he’s going to throw in the towel and retire, because Haru would rather not see exactly what Plan B is, especially because Plan B is under management of one Nagisa Hazuki, and who knows what that devious mind came up with when they’d all congregated to discuss such Important Matters.

He looks at the time. Almost lunch, and the glue still needs to dry, but if he puts a clamp down on the spine of the book, and wraps it in a cotton cloth, it should be okay. Just has to be careful not to jostle it too much, and everything will be fine.

Haru gets the clamp and presses it carefully on the spine, making sure it doesn’t shift the book’s pages or the position of the cover in any way, before wrapping the whole thing in a loose, light cloth. He then heads out of the door and out of his house.

He’s about halfway down the stairs of the temple when he sees familiar red hair, and he hurries his steps just a bit faster. Haru’s surprisingly more anxious about this whole thing than he’d ever like to admit, but this is an opportunity that he’s creating for his friends, that he hopes he doesn’t mess up.

“Rin,” said friend in question turns around to see Haru greet him, and Haru in turn is greeted by a shrug. “You’re going to Makoto’s, too, right?”

Rin nods, and Haru can see the slight amount of turmoil on his face. Despite what Rin might think, his emotions are as easy to spot, no matter how hard he tries, everyone around him and their dog knows when something’s up with him. “Yeah, I guess…” he trails off.

“You guess?” Haru pushes, because really, Rin?

“Well, I mean, I’m here, aren’t I?” he grumbles a bit, as the both of them head towards Makoto’s house.

“You sound like you don’t want to be,” Haru observes offhand, and this gets Rin to blanch just a little bit.

“No, that’s not it… It’s just,” he ruffles the back of his head, hair coming loose from his ponytail. Haru waits patiently for Rin to get his words in order, but Haru would really prefer to be in Makoto’s house, and getting his little plan in motion. “He doesn’t really need us to help him babysit, does he?”

Haru shrugs then. “Probably not, but that’s not why he asked us to come,” he replies. “He hasn’t spent much time with us recently.”

“He spends all his time with you,” Rin counters.

“But not much time with you,” Haru shoots back. He sees the way Rin’s eyes widen just a bit and turns away, scoffing. Haru just sighs. “He misses hanging out with you, you know. You’ve been busy recently.”

There’s almost a certain hopeful way that Rin turns his eyes towards Haru, and it’s in moments such as this that Haru remembers why he’s going through with this plan that is way too much effort on his part, but worth every bit of it. “H-he does?” Rin stutters, and Haru just hides the smile from him, walking ahead and reaching Makoto’s door first. He opens it, because of course it’s unlocked, and is immediately greeted by two shrill voices, happy to see him there.

“Haru-chan!” Ran and Ren almost knock him over with the sheer force of how they greet him with their tackle hug. “Nii-chan! Nii-chan! Haru-chan’s here!”

“Rin-chan, too,” Haru says gently to the twins, getting up from his sudden tumble backwards to let them greet Rin properly.

Rin crouches down in front of them as they approach him carefully, almost like baby deer approaching a new animal they’d never encountered before. “Yo,” Rin gives them a careful smile, obviously completely aware of the effects of his teeth if he’s not careful. “You’re Ran and Ren, aren’t you?”

The twins share a look before their eyes go wide, Ran stepping up towards Rin with a tad more bravery than her brother. “You know us?” she asks, almost in awe that someone would know them without introduction.

Rin chuckles then. “Sure, your brother talks about you all the time,” he says gently, and it’s those words that break the barrier for the twins as they go in to tackle Rin in a hug also.

“Ne, ne, Rin-nii-chan!” Ran is the first to pull Rin into the house, welcoming him completely as one of the family, just as the Tachibanas always do with anyone who steps on their threshold. “Did you know? Onii-chan was really looking forward to you visiting today. I’ll go get him-“

“No! I’ll get him!” Ren calls and they both jostle each other through the door, each shrieking for Makoto as they run and slide on the wood floor.

Haru merely shrugs when Rin turns around to look at him. He gives Rin a push on his back, and they're through the threshold, and down the hall, and they see Makoto talking to his parents, helping them get ready to leave for the day.

“Now we’ll just be gone for a little while, Makoto,” his mother, Sayuri, says to him as she puts on her jacket. Behind her, her father is writing down something on a piece of paper. “We’ve made lunch for you, and left money for dinner just in case we don’t make it back in time. Ah! Hello, Haruka-kun! Rin-kun!”

They both startle a bit and bow politely, and Makoto’s head whips around at the mention of Rin, giving him a full blown smile that Haru can only akin to the sunshine after a flash rain. He can’t see Rin’s face at all, but judging by the way his ears are turning the same shade as his hair, he’s blushing, and in a spectacular manner, at that.

“Rin! Haru! You made it!” Makoto calls to them, eyes crinkling at the corners in his joy at seeing them. His father, Junpei, hands Makoto the paper he’d been writing on previously.

“Now, these are all your emergency contacts just in case. If it’s a real emergency, Makoto-“

“I’ll call you both immediately, I know, I _know_ ,” Makoto finishes for him, tilting his head at the pat his father gives him on the shoulder. “We’ll be okay, I promise. You go have fun! You’re both going to be late!”

He’s already ushering his parents out the door, laughing with them. “Have fun, okay?” he says gently. Haru sees Rin watching them with an expression of calm, muted affection. He smiles a bit to himself.

“We’ll call you later tonight to see how things are, okay?” his mother says gently as Makoto bends down to receive her peck on the cheek. His father ruffles his hair.

“See you later, son,” he says, and they’re out the door. Makoto shuts it behind him and turns around to look at them.

“Hi,” he says a bit breathlessly, eyes landing on Rin and his gaze gentling just a tad, before going over to the twins to scoop them up in his arms, squeals of delight and laughter following the sudden swoop. “Thank you both for coming. I know how busy you are.”

That last part isn’t directed at Haru at all, and Haru watches Rin attempt at a reply, stuttering just a bit. “Ah, well, it’s… i-it’s no big deal,” he can tell that Rin wanted a better response, more suave, a smoother, maybe even flirtatious response, but he’s been caught off guard by Makoto’s observatory skills yet again, and it’s all he can manage without completely frying his brain.

“Haru-chan, what’s that?” Ren takes hold of Haru’s free hand gently, giving it a tug to get Haru’s attention. He’s pointing at the book that Haru has wrapped. He smiles at Ren and kneels down.

“It’s a story for you,” he says gently, unwrapping the book and watching the way Ren’s eyes widen at the cover. “I brought it so I could read it to you.”

Ran joins her brother and the both of them are staring at Haru in wonder. “Really?!” they cry and Haru nods, smiling at their enthusiasm. They pull Haru to Makoto’s room, chattering excitedly. “Let’s read it now! C’mon, Haru-chan!”

He’s pushed through the door and he immediately takes a seat on Makoto’s bed, bouncing a bit on his mattress. He sees Makoto hold the door open for Rin, gesturing him in with an “After you,” and a smile, and he can tell Rin’s embarrassed, despite his grumbled thanks.

“I didn’t know you wrote stories,” Rin mutters at him, taking one of the large green pillows on from Makoto’s bed as he leans on the table on the floor. Makoto rolls his study chair right behind him and gives Haru a smile.

“I didn’t write it. It’s ‘the Little Mermaid’,” Haru says, holding up the book, prime for the twins to see the pictures. They sit close to Haru’s feet, rapt with attention. “Just reinterpreted a bit.”

“Is that the damn-“

“Rin!” Makoto’s voice is quick and sharp, cutting Rin’s sentence off. He points hastily at the twins, and Rin seems to get it, mouth parted with sudden realization.

“Oh, shhhhhhhhhhhu _uuucks_ , right. Sorry. Is that your creepy mascot on the cover? Don’t tell me _he’s_ the little mermaid?” Rin arcs an eyebrow at Haru, clearly unimpressed by Haru’s choice of cover design, and it takes most of Haru’s willpower not to throw his newly bound and pressed book right at Rin’s too smug face.

Haru breathes, remembering that if he does throw the book, he’ll have to spend at least another hour or so rebinding it, and Haru would really rather avoid that.

He looks up almost anxiously, because he’s never really done this before; he’s always left the story telling to Makoto. It’s one of the things he loves about spending time with Makoto and the twins, the way he catches their attention with the slightest inflection of his voice, the way their eyes follow his seemingly musical sentences as they paint imaginary pictures in the air for them. Makoto is prime for telling stories; if it had been a past era, he would have been considered a magician of words.

Haru looks at Makoto, who blinks a bit at him before realizing why he’s getting stared at so intently. Makoto tilts his head and smiles encouragingly at him, and it’s enough for Haru to take a deep breath and begin.

He opens the first page, and is encouraged by the twins’ ‘ooh’s and ‘ah’s, the water colour rendering of the underwater castle, composed of corals and shells, enough to even have Rin’s eyebrows raise in his interest.

 

          Once upon a time, deep under the crystalline blue sea, where the fish were as abundant as the stars and as colourful as rainbows, where the corals reached as high as trees, shells of mother of pearl decorating the pristine ocean floor, there lived a vast city of mermaids.  
          Hundreds upon hundreds of mermaids lived in this thriving city, celebrating the gifts of the ocean through the only way they knew how; through music. Every day they offered up thanks for the beautiful quality of life in the deep blue sea through song and dance, giving praise through creativity and the joy of sharing love.  
          The happy merfolk swam and played through the waves, laughing and offering their song, not only to the gods and goddesses of the ocean, the deities that served to protect and bless them, but also to their queen, who ruled them with a just and kind hand. Their love for the queen was immense and unquestionable, as every year on her birthday, they threw a party in her honour, showering her throne with gifts of ocean treasures, poetry, prose, and song.

 

“Oh! Sorry Haru, I didn’t turn off my phone,” Haru looks up to find Makoto sheepishly bowing in apology, having taken out his phone. The twins turn around to look at Makoto with wide eyes. He takes one look at the caller ID before he presses the end button. “… it’s Tamura-san?”

Makoto answers the call, because it’s rare for Tamura-san to ever call anyone. Even Haru finds it surprising, but he waits, pausing his story. “Ah, hello? This is Tachibana Makoto? Yes, hello, Tamura-san? What seems to be the trouble? Mm… oh, um… I see. Well if that’s why you called, I can definitely help you with that!”

From the corner of his eye, Haru can see Rin watching Makoto, confused, and almost anxious at what might come out of Makoto’s mouth next. “Yes… yes! I’ll be there, just give me a few minutes. Okay, bye Tamura-san!” Makoto hangs up the call and gets up, smiling with embarrassment at the four sets of eyes following his movements. “Sorry, umm… Tamura-san needs help moving some things from the store to her house. I’ll be right back.”

“We can help if you want,” Rin says, but Makoto’s already putting up a hand to stop him, waving it off.

“No, no! It’s okay, umm… I don’t want to make you do anything too troubling,” he says frantically. “And besides, I don’t want the twins to be left alone.”

“Will you come back soon, onii-chan?” the slight anxiety is evident in Ren’s voice as he clings to Makoto’s pant leg, and Makoto kneels down to pet through his hair.

“Of course, I won’t take long. Promise,” Haru glances over to Rin, who’s looking at Makoto like he’s the last treasure on earth, eyes soft with a reverrant type of awe that can only be described as adoration. “Besides, you have Haru-chan and Rin-chan here with you! You’ll have fun with them, won’t you?”

Makoto looks at Haru then, and he nods. “Sure, I have a story for you, right?” Haru points at his place in the book, just under the words he’d left off. The twins light up immediately, suddenly okay at the notion of spending time with Haru and Rin.

Makoto gets up as the twins reposition themselves back in front of Haru’s feet, and he turns to give Rin an apologetic smile. Haru knows the meaning of that smile, too, but Rin merely shrugs, obviously disappointed that Makoto will be gone for a while, and the message that Makoto attempts to convey in his look towards Rin is lost. Haru can see the way his shoulders sag just a bit before he gives the twins another wave, and he’s disappeared through his bedroom door.

Rin turns a cold shoulder towards Makoto until he’s gone, and Haru catches him turn his head towards where Makoto had just been, eyes almost hopeful that he’ll come back, but they both know he won’t.

“Haru-chan!” Haru looks down at the twins, Ran sitting with her hands on her knees and Ren right at his feet, clinging to his leg. “What happens next?”

 

          It was on this day in particular that one of the queen’s children was missing. She had two, a boy and a girl, and they were her pride and joy. Her son was no where to be found in celebration, and none of her subjects could tell her where he was.  
          “Where is that airheaded boy?” she wondered out loud. “His mother is throwing a wonderful party! And all she wants is to hear his wonderful voice…”  
          The reason for this was because her son had the most beautiful voice in all the sea. His singing could make the coral buds bloom. But the little mer-prince wasn’t interested in these things. Instead, he was interested in the shipwrecks that were scattered across the ocean floor, in search of the little trinkets and bobbles he could collect there.

 

The twins gasp when Haru turns the page. “Haru-chan! That looks like Rin-nii-chan!”

Rin hadn’t been paying attention at all, and he coughs at the sudden mention of his name, turning confused eyes up at Haru. Sure enough, the picture on the page is of Rin, a younger depiction of him, much like how he looked when he was in elementary school, maybe older than that, smiling brightly down at the sand. Next to him is a smaller, purple looking mermaid, worried expression at where they are.

“Is that Four Eyes?” Rin asks, wheezing a bit from his sudden coughing fit. Haru nods, because who else would it be?

“Is that what you meant by re… reinterpetted Haru-chan?” Ran asks excitedly. “Are we gonna be in the story too?!”

"'Reinterpreted'," Haru corrects her, giving her a smile. “Yeah, everyone I know will be in the story,” he says. He sneaks a peek at Rin, who has his eyebrows furrowed together. Haru can tell he’s thinking about something, specifically he’s thinking about why on earth would Haru ever put all of his friends in a story book.

Haru continues, ignoring the questioning look.

 

          “Rin-san, I do not think this is a good idea,” Rei, the mer-prince’s childhood friend, spoke worriedly as they swam through the wreckage. Ships of old, creaking and groaning with the constant movement of the sea, scattered across the ocean floor. The mer-prince Rin waved a hand at him, eyes wide and sparkling at the prospect of new treasure for him to find.  
          “Don’t worry so much, Rei! We won’t be here for long! And besides, aren’t you excited? Think of the discovery! The adventure!” Prince Rin laughed, excitedly flipping with the rolls of the waves. His back hit the side of a particularly old ship, so old the wood turned black, hull creaking with the algae growths already eating it away. The prince pressed a hand to the side of the ship. “Let’s go in this one!”  
          Rei gave something akin to a squawk, swimming hurriedly after the prince. “We can’t, Rin-san! We have to go back! Your mother is having a celebration and she most certainly wants you to be there!” his voice went unheeded by the prince, who swam through a large hole in the side of the ship. He swam after the prince, hands wrung together with distress. “Rin-san! I don’t like this, we really should go!”  
          Rin ignored his friend, eyes sparkling, little gasps of excitement escaping him as he swam and tumbled through the belly of the ship. He ooh’d and ah’d at all of the things he saw, though he didn’t collect any of them. “I already have most of this stuff… oh!”  
          Rei bumped into Rin as he swam behind him nervously, and he peeked around to see what Rin was staring at. Even he became slightly curious at the object that Rin picked up with careful hands. “What do you think it is, Rei?” Rin asked, picking up the object carefully as it shone in the low light that managed to seep through the cracks in the wood.  
          Rei swam closer, fear having been warded off for his curiosity instead. “I’m not too sure, Rin-san,” he muttered, a hand to his chin. “It looks akin to your mother’s trident. Perhaps it is a smaller one? Maybe it can cast magic much like your mother’s…”  
          Rin took a pose like that of a swords wielder and flicked the… mini trident with a grandiose cry, pointing it towards a small patch of seaweed inside of the ship. The seaweed merely swayed with the constant beat of the ocean. “Nope, that’s not it,” Rin concluded, putting the item in his bag. “Let’s go explore some more.”  
          Deeper they went into the ship, the water now murky with spores of the sea growths sprouting from the wooden planks, the mast having sunk through the deck that it was now permanently embedded into the ocean floor. “Rin-san,” Rei called worriedly to the prince. “This isn’t good anymore. The ship is rotting through! We must leave before it collapses on us!”  
          “It won’t collapse,” Rin said, swimming leisurely on, hands behind his head so he could gaze at the underside of the ship’s deck, counting every barnacle that had made the darkened wood its home. “This has probably been here for years! There’s no way that—“  
          “Rin-san, watch out!” Rei called out but it was too late, Rin had hit his head on one of the wooden poles of the ship, and it fell over with a resounding thud, scattering dust and sand up in a puff. “Are you alright?”  
          “Yeah, fine,” Rin groaned, rubbing his head and looking at the mess. His eyes went wide at the sudden hole that the fallen debris revealed, and he tugged Rei away. “We have to go.”  
          “What? But why? You just hit your head, we need to be more careful—“  
          “REI, SWIM!” Rin pulled Rei around and began to swim, propelling them forward with a flick of his tail, saving Rei just in time from a sudden snap of jaws.  
          “S-s-s-s-shaaaark!” Rei swam quickly behind the prince as they twisted and maneuvered their way through the rotting ship as it began to tumble down in the wake of the destructive animal. They looped through holes and over fallen beams, frantic in their escape.  
          Through corridors and broken walls they went, all the while just narrowly missing the clutches of the shark’s jagged teeth. They tumbled through a particularly small hole and the shark crashed, sending them careening through the water, and up and up they went into the light of the sun as they swam close by the surface before diving down quickly into a thick forest of seaweed, wedging themselves into the craggy surface of a towering cliff.  
          “That… was too close,” Rin gasped, peeking out of the rock’s edge to scan the area. The shark was nowhere to be found. They were safe. “Rei… Rei! Come out, we’re okay!”  
          Rei shakily made his way out of the crevice that he’d wedged himself into, as Rin began to laugh in joy. “That was so much fun, Rei! We _have_ to do that again!” he cried, doing somersaults in the water.  
          “Rin-san,” Rei wheezed, hand over his heart to keep it from bursting out of his chest. “We are dismally late for your mother’s party. She will have a fit when she sees you.”  
          Rin bit his lip. “Ah, yeah. Maybe we should go… Oh, wait! We should go find someone who knows whatever… _this_ is!” Rin said, holding up the silvery object, its three prongs shining in the light of the waves.  
          “Who in all of the blue seas would possibly know about something like that?” Rei asked.  
          Rin smiled at Rei mischievously, pearly whites showing in his delight. “I think you know, Rei,” he said, voice low with conspiracy.  
          Rei didn’t need a second hint. “Rin-san there’s no way, no _absolute_ way that he would know! You know that he has no source for his information. There must be a falsehood to the data that he’s giving you—“  
          “No sweat, Rei!” Rin replied, waving Rei off as he swam along the surface of the water. “We’re only asking him for the name of the thing…”  
          “I highly doubt that Nagisa-kun will know what _that thing_ is,” Rei sighed.

 

As soon as Haru names the supposed informant, Rin lets out a barked laugh, obviously more amused by the casting than anything. “Nagisa, really?” Rin chuckles a bit. “I’ll admit that’s pretty funny.”

“I know, right?” Haru replies, obviously proud of the role choice. He blinks when he feels his phone vibrate. “… Speak of the devil”

**Nagisa: HARU-CHAN WE’RE GOING TO BE AT MAKO-CHAN’S FRONT DOOR IN LESS THAN 15 SECS PLEASE BE READY~!!! (づ≧▽≦)っ༄٭*.˳•❁:٭❋✿٭★*✧♡♡♡**

Haru is never ready for this, but he sighs. Less than three seconds later, there’s a loud banging and screeching coming from the front door of the Tachibana household.

“HARU-CHAN I’M HERE I BROUGHT REI-CHAN WHERE ARE YOOOOUUUU???” Haru hurries down the stairs before Nagisa manages to disturb the entire neighbourhood, and he opens the door to find Rei flustered behind Nagisa, desperately trying to get him to be quieter. “HARU-CHAAAN!”

He gets tackled in a hug, which is more volatile than that of the twins, even though there’s two of them, and Haru’s sent nearly toppling to the ground. “Nagisa-kun!” Rei is already there to scold Nagisa, pulling him off of Haru before he’s smothered completely. “I’m so sorry about that Haruka-senpai. But we’re so glad that you invited us. Is Makoto-senpai he—oh, Rin-san!”

The twins are down the stairs, followed closely by Rin, who waves at the two of them. “Butterfly-onii-chan!” the twins rush Rei, and he kneels down in front of them to welcome them into his arms as they squeal when they’re pulled into the hug. “Haru-chan is reading us a story!”

“Ohhh, we know,” Nagisa gives the twins a wink and crouches down next to them. “Haru-chan’s been working super hard on this story for about a month now, ne, Haru-chan?”

Haru can feel the stare from behind him, can practically feel the way Rin’s definitely narrowing his eyes at the back of Haru’s head, because there is a _conspiracy_ going on against him, and apparently _everyone knows_ except for Rin.

The conspiracy is also against Makoto as well, but he isn’t even here to experience it right alongside Rin.

“Haru-chan’s been working on it for a month?” the twins both gasp at the amount of dedication that it took him, which is understandable, they can barely get through three days of Animal Crossing: Deep Sea Days without whining to Makoto for a different game.

“Yup! And he’s reading it to you, right?” Nagisa looks at Haru. “What part are you at?”

“We’re at the part where the prince and his friend go to ask the human expert for—“

“OH MY GOD YOU ARE???” Nagisa bursts at Haru, pulling him inside, everyone else following after with slight alarm. Haru looks back to see Rei and Rin share a look, and Haru allows himself to be pulled by Nagisa and the twins. “YOU DIDN’T SHOW THEM THE PICTURE YET DID YOU?”

“No, I was just about to flip the pa—“ Haru feels himself bounce on the mattress, and now three sets of expectant eyes are staring up at him wide and unblinking at his feet. It’s almost slightly horrifying.

He sighs and flips the page, revealing ‘Nagisa’ portrayed in water colours and textured paints, much like the rest of the pictures that Haru had worked on. The reaction is nothing short of amazement.

“OH MY GOD HARU-CHAN I LOOK BEAUTIFUL LOOK REI-CHAN LOOK HOW HARU-CHAN DREW ME AND I’M INPINKANDILOOKSOCUTEOHMYGOODNESSHARU—“

“Nagisa,” it’s Rin that interrupts him before he can overwhelm Haru with his overenthusiastic yelling. “Inside voice.”

“Right, sorry, Haru-chan,” Nagisa throws up a peace sign and settles back down. “You must have worked so hard on it. It shows, for sure. It looks fantastic.”

Haru’s eyes soften in thanks at the compliment. “I must agree, Haruka-senpai,” Rei adds in. “Your art has always been nothing short of astounding, and this may be just some of your best work yet.”

“Thank you, Rei,” Haru’s honestly flattered by the heartfelt compliment, smiling up at Rei in that quiet way of his, and it has Rei blustering which makes Haru smile more because it’s amusing.

“Haru-chan, I can’t even believe the detail! You even have little shiny bits and sparkles on some of the scales. That must have been a real pain in the a—“

“Nagisa-kun!”

“Alan Menken music scores?” Nagisa finishes, looking around at Rei in alarm at interrupting him. He’s pointing and flailing frantically at the twins, who blink up innocently at Nagisa.

“Nagisa-nii, did you help with this story?” Ren asks quietly, and Nagisa sits down next to him.

"Well, not exactly,” Nagisa turns to give Haru a wink. “But I bet Haru-chan had a little help from everybody.”

“Even onii-chan?” Ran asks, hopeful.

“Especially your onii-chan,” Nagisa says to her, and this also gets Rin’s attention, because it’s a very specific thing to say about the story. Everyone knows that Haru doesn’t share his work until he’s finished with it, so the fact that Nagisa says that Makoto had a hand in helping is suspicious enough. “Who are you texting, Rin-chan?”

Everyone looks up to see Rin pressing buttons almost furiously on his phone. “Sousuke,” is all he says.

“Are you sure Sou-chan is the right person to call for moral—“

“He’s nearby with Gou,” Rin continues on. “He says that he needs help because Momo and Ai found them.”

This gets Nagisa to lose his train of thought completely. “Ai-chan’s coming?!” he yells excitedly, not too loudly since the twins are close by. “Yeah, tell Sou-chan to bring them!”

“But what about Makoto-senpai,” Rei interrupts. “This is his house?”

Haru shrugs. “Makoto will be fine with it,” he answers Rei in hopes to reassure him.

Nagisa’s already paying no heed to Rei’s concerned input. “Party at Makoto’s house!” he sing-songs, dancing around with the twins.

“But without Makoto-senpai?” Rei’s voice gets louder with more concern, and Haru just lets it happen. He can see the way Rin’s facial expression drops just a tad at Rei’s words, but he covers it up almost immediately.

“He’ll come back soon, anyway, right?” Rin replies easily. “Let’s just hope we have enough food for him when he gets back.”

“Ohhhh, Rin-chan! You can cook for him! Wouldn’t that be nice?” Nagisa cheers, and the twins cheer with him, excited at the prospect of more food.

Rin’s blushing a bit though, because of course he is, Haru thinks. Only Rin would blush at the prospect of _cooking for Makoto_. “W-well if he doesn’t have food to eat,” he trails off lamely.

“Haru-chan!” it’s like he’s being attacked by triplets, with Nagisa and the twins yelling at him in unison, paying Rin’s fumbling absolutely no mind. “Please continue with the story!”

“Settle down first, then,” he mostly addresses Nagisa with this, and he listens, the twins following suit. He holds the page up for them to look at, the pictures flowing with colour and life on the paper. With a deep breath, Haru continues his story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i've had this idea for a while and i'm so glad i finally got it started

**Author's Note:**

> find me on tumblr @ childofcolour


End file.
